BOOK II

Psalms 42–72

 

FRAMEWORKS: Psalm 42

 

For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.

 

[Preliminary Comments: This psalm by the sons of Korah, clearly partners with the following psalm. A beautifully simple psalm that acknowledges an inner anguish over the apparent absence of the Lord. The answer – to hope, trust, wait on Him and know His presence.]

 

 

v.1,2 The Psalmist yearns for the Lord

v.1  As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
v.2  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
   

v.3 He has wept at the apparent absence of the Lord

v.3  My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
    

v.4 He recollects how it was in the past

v.4  These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

 

v.5 A repeated refrain: awareness of inner anxiety and the answer

v.5  Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

 

v.6 The way to combat it is to remember and turn to the Lord

v.6  My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
     

v.7 The depths within me are overwhelmed by the sounds of the world

v.7  Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.

 

v.8 By both day and night his love enables me to pray

v.8  By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.

 

v.9 I say to the Steadfast One, why am I left like this?

v.9  I say to God my Rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?”
     

v.10 I am physically worn out when the godless taught me about your absence

v.10  My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”

 

v.11 The repeated refrain again: awareness of inner anxiety and the answer

v.11  Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

 

 

[Additional Thoughts: Self awareness can be healthy as long as it leads to a positive outcome which, for the psalmist here, is to know the Lord's presence and trust that He will turn up to bring the desired change.]

   

    

Continue to Psa 43

      

  

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